Third in line in our Christian History is: Bible versions!!
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE?
Original Bible manuscripts were written in Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew. The very first English bible was translated by John Wycliffe with the help of Martin Luther [he was our first topic in the series. Catch up here] in very ancient English. William Tyndale is more popular, however, because he translated the Bible into modern English in the 16th century. Sadly he was burned at the stake in Belgium…his only crime – translating the Bible into English!
So why was that not enough? Why do we have so many versions now??
DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES!
Two basic techniques have been used so far:
1. Word for Word Translation/ Formal Equivalence (WFW)
2. Thought for Thought Translation/ Dynamic Equivalence (TFT).
The popular King James Version is a WFW translation, and is actually why most people recommend it – there appears to be very little interpretation by the writer in translating. New American Standard Bible is also WFW. WFW translates as LITERALLY as possible. Just like it’s name- word for word.
The advantage is that the translator’s interpretation is very minimal as compared to the TFT translation. The disadvantage may be that it’s so stiffly translated that it’s not easy to understand.
TFT is more about translating in a manner that makes it easy for the reader to understand. So the spiritual ones who want the complicated sentences find these versions a little watered down. The Living Bible and the Message are easy examples. Good News, New International Version and English Standard Version are more common examples. The advantage and disadvantage are the reverse of WFW translation.
There are so many translations. Which one should you buy? Well, look for two very significant things in any translation to ensure it’s the true Word of God.
1. The Deity of Christ → John 1:1, 1:14, 8:58, 10:30, Titus 2:13.
For example some denominations which claim to be Christian but do not belive in the deity of Christ translate John 1:1 as “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god” . Now that can’t be right. The proper translation is ‘…and the Word WAS GOD’.
2. That the Word of God is true and will accomplish its purposes → Isaiah 55:11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12.
There’s also the Catholic Bible which contains the Apocrypha. These were books Jesus never quoted from (yes He quoted from all the others) that were sidelined as not inspired by God and so were removed from the standard Bible as we have it today. All other books in the Catholic Bible are the same including the ‘test verses’.
Be wary of the New World Translation Bible and the Mormon Bible. The latter are followers of one Joseph Smith. They believe the Bible has been corrupted, and so they have the Latter Day Saints Edition of the KJV, and do not believe in reading the Bible without their famous Book of Mormons which contains other books such as Mormoni and Nephi. Mormons do not believe in the Trinity or that there’s only one God, etc.
On a lighter note, Jamaicans decided KJV was overated! So they have a patois translation of the Bible. For example:
“Rispek fi yu an yu niem” = “Halloweth be thy name’ 😂😂😂
“De angel go to Mary and say to ‘er, me have news we going to make you well ‘appy. God really, really, bless you and him a walk with you all de time” translates to “And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.” 😂😂😂
The spiritual brothers and sisters won’t be too happy now, will they? 😂 Guess who’s thoroughly enjoying it: 👇🏽
★ RAD ★
