Summary: We need readable, accurate Bible translation because the original Scriptures were written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (ESV)
Why Do We Need Bible Translation?
Just because English speakers have an overabundance of Bible translations to choose from doesn’t mean that every language is so fortunate. Today, the Bible has been translated into nearly 700 different languages, with over 2,500 active translations in progress. Of the 7,000+ languages spoken around the world today, approximately 3,589 have little or no translated passages of the Bible. Sadly, approximately 165,000,000 people still don’t have a Bible in their own language, according to illumiNations.
Translation is necessary because the Bible was written centuries ago in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. If you don’t speak those three languages, then you must choose a Bible that has been translated from them. Accuracy and readability are essential components of Bible translation, so that people can read and understand God’s word. If people don’t know what certain words mean or if the words don’t communicate what the original author was trying to say, then there is a serious problem.
Trilingual Jewish Culture in Palestine
The Old Testament was written in Classical Hebrew, a language from the Northwest Semitic family of languages. The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, all consonants and no vowels. A vowel system of dots and dashes was introduced during the Middle Ages by scholars known as the Masoretes who standardized and edited the Masoretic Text (MT) which is the standard Hebrew Bible today.
The Jewish culture in Palestine during the time of Jesus was trilingual. Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek were all widely used. Jesus most likely taught in Aramaic, attended synagogue services where the Hebrew text was used, and spoke with governmental officials, merchants and foreigners in Greek.
Hebrew gradually disappeared as a spoken language somewhere between AD 200 and 400, although it continued to be used in religious contexts in Judaism. Remarkably, modern Hebrew is the intentional revival of a “dead” language by Eleazer Ben-Yehuda, as part of the Zionist movement, for Jewish immigrants who came back to Israel and needed a common language.
A few portions of the Old Testament are in Aramaic, including parts from Ezra (4:8-6:18; 7:12-26), Daniel (2:4-7:28), and one verse in Jeremiah (10:11). Aramaic has been spoken for over 3,000 years and is part of a group of related dialects that are in the Northwest Semitic language family which include Hebrew, Phoenician, and Ugaritic.
Aramaic became the common language of trade and diplomacy during the period of the Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC). It continued through the Babylonian (605-539 BC) and Persian periods (539-334 BC). Greek eventually replaced Aramaic in the fourth century BC through the conquests of Alexander the Great.
By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the common language of the Jews in Israel. Although the New Testament was written in Koine (Hellenistic) Greek, there are a few Aramaic words and phrases that appear, transliterated with Greek letters.
Some examples include:
Talitha koum, “Little girl, arise!” Jesus’ words when he raised Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:41).
Ephphatha, “Be opened!” Jesus’ command when he healed a deaf man (Mark 7:43).
Abba, “Father.” Jesus’ Garden of Gethsemane prayer (Mark 14:36).
Abba for God used by the Apostle Paul (Rom. 9:14 and Gal. 4:6).
Maranatha “Our Lord, Come!” (1 Cor. 16:22).
Lingua Franca Koine Greek
Alexander the Great had been tutored by Greek philosopher Aristotle. As Alexander conquered, he promoted all things Greek: language, culture, art and philosophy. He built Greek-style cities with gymnasiums, public baths, theaters and stadiums. To further promote Greek culture, Alexander would settle Greek colonists and soldiers in various locations and encourage them to intermarry with conquered people.
The Greek language eventually became the common language of the Eastern Mediterranean. Local populations would still speak their native tongue but for travel, trade and diplomacy they would use Koine Greek, which was simpler and less precise than Classical Greek.
The Greek of the New Testament varies in style and sophistication from author to author. Luke, Acts, and Hebrews are written in a higher style Greek, in contrast to Mark and Johannine literature, which have a much simpler style.
The spread of Koine Greek and the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (the Septuagint) had a profound impact on early Christianity. Because Christian missionaries could speak and write in this common language, it allowed them to spread and defend the good news wherever they traveled.
Goals of Bible Translation – Accuracy and Readability
The two fundamental goals of Bible translation are accuracy and readability. Still, there is a broad spectrum of approaches, from very literal to very idiomatic. An accurate translation clearly represents the historical and cultural meaning intended by the author. Readability means the text can be understood by the reader.
Accuracy can be tricky. It doesn’t simply involve finding an English word for every Hebrew word. Languages are too different to work like that. Words have a variety of meanings and the translator’s goal is to express the meaning that the author was trying to convey. Culture and history can get in the way, not to mention euphemisms, idioms, metaphors, irony, sarcasm, rhetorical questions, litotes, metonymy and synecdoche, semantic range, multiple manuscripts, re-contextualizing, formality versus functionality, fluency in receptor language, linguistic and grammatical differences between languages – and the list goes on.
For example, in Romans 16:16 most English Bible versions translate Paul’s encouragement for the believers in Rome as, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Below are a couple different efforts made to contemporize this verse because in modern American culture we do not generally kiss as a greeting.
“Give each other a hearty handshake all around.” Phillips NT in Modern English (PME)
“Be sure to give each other a warm greeting.” The Contemporary English Version (CEV)
“Give each other the special greeting of God’s people.” Easy to Read Version (ERV)
Since kissing is reserved for romantic relationships or parents and children in our culture, the “holy kiss” version doesn’t fit well today, especially for new readers of the Bible. For one to understand the “holy kiss” properly some background of first century Jewish history and culture must be known.
Sometimes accuracy is compromised by simplifying or generalizing the text which can lead to meaning being lost. The English Standard Version (ESV) of Matt. 7:12 reads, “this is the Law and the Prophets” compared to the PME version, “this is the essence of all true religion.” The PME version is a problem because Jesus was not epitomizing all religion but condensing the many laws of the Hebrew Torah into a central theme.
The two above examples may have been translated too freely but on the opposite end, there can be a loss of accuracy through obscurity. An example is Luke 15:20, the story of the prodigal son, in the New King James Version (NKJV). When the father sees his wayward son returning, it reads, “his father saw him and…ran and fell on his neck.” “Fell on his neck” is the literal translation of the Greek phrase, but we would never say it that way in English today. It sounds like the father is attacking his son. In modern English we could say “he hugged him” (NET, CEB, CEV) or “he embraced him” (NLT, ESV, NASB, REV) or “he threw his arms around him” (NIV, TEV).
The second goal of Bible translation is readability, but like accuracy, there are different perspectives on what reliability involves. For some translators, it means the text is simply comprehensible. The meaning of the text may not be apparent right away but can be understood looking at the overall context. For example, compare Psalm 12:2 in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and the New International Version (NIV).
NRSV – They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
NIV – Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.
To speak “with a heart and a heart” is the Hebrew idiom that is used, and in an effort to retain the idiom the NRSV translates this as “with a double heart.” While understanding can come from the larger context of the phrase, we would never say this in English to describe someone who seeks to deceive.
Some translators define readability as comprehension and clarity, meaning that the passage can be readily understood. Compare Isaiah 6:10 in the ESV versus the CSB and CEB.
ESV – Make the heart of the people dull, and their ears heavy.
CBS – Deafen their ears.
CEB – Make their ears deaf.
The Hebrew verb translated in the ESV “make … heavy” has a variety of meanings: to make something burdensome, to honor, glorify or harden, or to deafen when used with ears. The CBS and the CEB translations are both comprehensive and clear.
To take it one step further, a translation may be clear but not natural. In the King James Version (KJV) Psalms 21 begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The meaning is comprehensible and clear, but not natural because no native English speaker would say it like that. The New Living Translation (NLT) makes it more natural by saying, “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” Now someone may prefer the KJV because of tradition, but for new Bible readers the NLT version would be better because it is easier to understand.
Conclusion
Bible translation is needed because we don’t speak the languages that the Bible was originally written in. Readability and accuracy are two important goals of Bible translation, but there are different perspectives on the best way to achieve these goals.
Different versions of the Bible will work better for different people; it depends on the reader. Today we are so blessed with many English versions to choose from. No version is the “right” version for everyone. We all have our own preferences.
It’s best to read from several versions to help comprehend the original message. I try to read the Bible every year in a different version and if someone asks me which Bible version I prefer, I say, “For which verse of the Bible?”
Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: A copy of the Bible in Ukrainian that uses the old spelling. (credit: TyshkunVictor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
