BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION SERIES: PART 2
[click here for the companion YouTube video]
As we continue this series on biblical interpretation, it is important to recognize the obvious: we interpret the Bible version that we read or hear. As such, it is important to have a sense of how different Bible translations are similar, how they are different, how they relate to the original manuscripts, and why these things matter for scriptural interpretation. The remainder of this post borrows heavily from the post on Bible versions.
If you are reading this post, which is written in English, you probably also read the Bible in an English translation. Of course, none of the books that make up the Bible were originally written in English. The OT was almost entirely written in Hebrew (with a tiny bit of Aramaic), and the NT was entirely written in Greek. Without knowing Hebrew and Greek, it is obviously necessary for the Bible to be translated into a language that we know before it can be read. Since languages differ in both sentence structure and in vocabulary, scriptural interpretation is required in the translation process. When we interpret an English Bible, we are actually interpreting an interpretation.
The first NT Bible translation based solely on Greek manuscripts was the Vulgate, which was a translation of Greek into Latin. This was done by the scholar Jerome, who was commissioned to do so in 382 by Pope Damasus I. Jerome’s translations included the OT canonical books from Hebrew, the OT apocryphal books from Hebrew, and the NT books from Greek. Jerome had only a handful of Greek manuscripts available when making his NT translation. The Latin Vulgate was translated into English one thousand years later by John Wycliffe in 1382.
The first scholarly Greek rendition of the NT based on multiple manuscripts was undertaken by Erasmus (c.1466–1536). It was called Novum Instrumentum Omne (later called Novum Testamentum Omne) and also included an update to the Latin Vulgate. Five editions were published between 1516 and 1536. These editions were based on eight Greek manuscripts. This means that the Latin Vulgate was effectively the only Bible in use for about 1200 years.
Erasmus’s Bible and those based on it are referred to as textus receptus, which is Latin for “received text”. All textus receptus translations are therefore based on the same eight Greek manuscript used by Erasmus. Examples of textus receptus translations include the Tyndale Bible (1525), Coverdale Bible (1537), Great Bible (1539), Geneva Bible (1560), King James Version (KJV, 1611), and New King James Version (NKJV, 1982).
As compared to the eight Greek manuscripts available for Erasmus in creating his NT Bible, there are currently more than five thousand. Translations based on all of the available manuscripts and that use critical scholarly techniques to infer what the original manuscripts most likely said (none of the original manuscripts exist) are referred to as critical text. Textus receptus translations have a small number of additional verses when compared to critical text translations. This is presumably due to scribes adding these verses during the transcription process. Examples of popular critical text translations include the New American Bible (NAB), New American Standard Bible (NASB), English Standard Version (ESV), Revised Standard Version (RSV), New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), New International Version (NIV), and New Living Translation (NLT). A simplified chart showing the primary relationships of various Bible translations is shown in the figure below.
In addition to textus receptus versus critical text, Bible translations can also be classified based on the extent to which they try to be a word-for-word translation or a thought-for-thought translation. At the extreme end of word-for-word is an interlinear Bible. An interlinear Bible has the untranslated Greek paired with the translation, which can be one word for one word, several Greek words for one translated word, or one Greek word for several translated words. Greek sentence structure is significantly different from English, and so the translated words in an interlinear Bible are not intended to be read. The readable translation that is generally considered the most word-for-word is the NASB. This is followed by the ESV, KJV, NKJV, and the NRSV. A popular thought-for-thought translation is the NLT. The NIV strikes a balance between word-for-word and thought for thought.
A chart showing where Bible translations range from word-for-word to thought-for-though is shown in the figure below [image is from here]. This figure describes word-for-word as “formal equivalence” and thought-for-thought as “functional equivalence.” This figure also includes paraphrases, which are not considered translations, but simply summaries of biblical material.
Now let’s explore some of the biblical interpretation implications that can arise due to different Bible versions. Consider the following translations of Proverbs 2:16:
NASB: “To rescue you from the strange woman”
KJV: “To deliver thee from the strange woman”
NIV: “Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman”
NLT: “Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman”
The NASB and KJV are word-for-word translations. As such, they are both incomplete clauses that refer to what is written previously in the chapter (i.e., wisdom). The NIV and NLT are less literal, but include what is being referred to, which is wisdom. An interlinear version that includes the original Hebrew is:
Notice that the interlinear translation is an incomplete clause, just like that NASB and KJV.
Now consider the object of this verse that is variously referred to as a “strange woman,” an “adulterous woman,” and “immoral woman,” and a “seductress.” The Hebrew adjective for the woman is מִ֝נָּכְרִיָּ֗ה, which corresponds to entry 5237 in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary. It literally means a foreigner or a stranger. Again, the NASB and KJV remain true to this literal definition, but the NIV and NLT try to better capture the sense of what is trying to be communicated. The point is that an English reader will be interpreting this verse based on the translation that is being read, which is itself a translation of the original Hebrew. Word-for-word translations can be confusing but thought-for-thought translations require subjective choices to be made by the translators.
The best Bible translation for you is the one that you read. This said, there are advantages to using a word-for-word translation when undertaking serious biblical and theological studies. This is because Greek words do not always have perfect English translations. For example, there are four commonly used Greek words for different kinds of love: storge for affection, philia for friendship, eros for attraction, and agapé for charity. These will all typically be translated into “love,” losing information about the particular kind of love that is indicated. A word-for-word translation allows the corresponding Greek word to be easily identified so that the original Greek meaning can be better understood, and hopefully better biblical interpretation can result.
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