17: How to Choose a Bible Translation Old LHIM Classes
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- Christianity
17 How to Choose a Bible Translation – Notes Download
Translation basics
Fee & Stuart: “Your Bible, whatever translation you use, which is your beginning point, is in fact the end result of much scholarly work. Translators are regularly called upon to make choices regarding meanings, and their choices are going to affect how you”1
“Every translation is a commentary” -Lee Brice
The Bible is in three languages.
Hebrew: Old Testament except the Aramaic part
Nearly 99% of the OT (22,945 of 23,213 verses)
Aramaic: half of Daniel and two passages in Ezra
Daniel 2.4b-7.28; Ezra 4.8-6.18; 7.12-26
About 1% of the OT (268 of 23,213 verses)
Greek: New Testament (all 7,968 verses)
How to begin learning Hebrew or Greek
Immersion program in Israel or Greece
Whole Word Institute offers a 9-month program.
In-person college class (usually 2 semesters)
Local colleges, RTS offers an 8-week summer program.
In-person classes at a Jewish synagogue or Greek church or community center
Online program with live instructor
Biblical Language Center, Liberty University, etc.
Digital program with pre-recordings
Aleph with Beth (YouTube), Bill Mounce’s DVD
course, etc.
How to improve your existing knowledge of Hebrew or Greek
Reading group in-person or online
Read a portion each week together.
Daily dose of Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic
Daily YouTube videos of one verse each (email list)
Read every day.
Read the Bible; read devotionals; read comic books (Glossa House produces great resources)
Watch modern Hebrew and Greek shows.
Izzy is like Netflix for Israel/Hebrew
Greece has lots of channels streaming online.
Translation process (1 Timothy 2:5 example)
Greek New Testament (NA28)
Εἷς γὰρ θεός,
εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων,
ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς
Literal translation
One for god,
one and mediator of god and men,
man Christ Jesus
Finished translation
For (there is) one God, and (there is) one mediator between God and mankind, (the) man Christ Jesus.
New Testament critical editions
Nestle Aland 28th Edition (NA28) based on the Editio Critica Maior (ECM), which employs the coherence based genealogical method (CBGM)
Tyndale House Greek New Testament (THGNT) prioritizes trusted physical manuscripts over the CBGM.
Old Testament critical editions
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and the partially completed Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) print the Leningrad Codex in the main text, but include alternative readings in the footnotes.
Hebrew Bible Critical Edition (HBCE) by Ronald Mendel is a project of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) to develop a critical edition.
Resources to see decisions about alternative readings
NET Bible (accessible at org)
New Testament Text and Commentary by Philip Comfort
A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger
Formal equivalence translation philosophy
Fee & Strauss: “If the Greek or Hebrew text uses an infinitive, the English translation will use an infinitive. When the Greek or Hebrew has a prepositional phrase, so will the English…The goal of this translational theory is formal correspondence as much as possible.”2
Ron Rhodes: “Formal equivalence translations can also be trusted not to mix too much commentary in with the text derived from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. To clarify, while all translation entails some interpretation, formal equivalence translations keep to a minimum in intermingling interpretive additives into the text. As one scholar put it, ‘An essentially literal translation operates on the premise that a translator is a steward of what someone else has written, not an editor and exegete who needs to explain or correct what someone else has written.’”3
Dynamic equivalence translation philosophy
Ron Rhodes: “Dynamic equivalence translations generally use shorter words, shorter sentences, and shorter paragraphs. They use easy
17 How to Choose a Bible Translation – Notes Download
Translation basics
Fee & Stuart: “Your Bible, whatever translation you use, which is your beginning point, is in fact the end result of much scholarly work. Translators are regularly called upon to make choices regarding meanings, and their choices are going to affect how you”1
“Every translation is a commentary” -Lee Brice
The Bible is in three languages.
Hebrew: Old Testament except the Aramaic part
Nearly 99% of the OT (22,945 of 23,213 verses)
Aramaic: half of Daniel and two passages in Ezra
Daniel 2.4b-7.28; Ezra 4.8-6.18; 7.12-26
About 1% of the OT (268 of 23,213 verses)
Greek: New Testament (all 7,968 verses)
How to begin learning Hebrew or Greek
Immersion program in Israel or Greece
Whole Word Institute offers a 9-month program.
In-person college class (usually 2 semesters)
Local colleges, RTS offers an 8-week summer program.
In-person classes at a Jewish synagogue or Greek church or community center
Online program with live instructor
Biblical Language Center, Liberty University, etc.
Digital program with pre-recordings
Aleph with Beth (YouTube), Bill Mounce’s DVD
course, etc.
How to improve your existing knowledge of Hebrew or Greek
Reading group in-person or online
Read a portion each week together.
Daily dose of Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic
Daily YouTube videos of one verse each (email list)
Read every day.
Read the Bible; read devotionals; read comic books (Glossa House produces great resources)
Watch modern Hebrew and Greek shows.
Izzy is like Netflix for Israel/Hebrew
Greece has lots of channels streaming online.
Translation process (1 Timothy 2:5 example)
Greek New Testament (NA28)
Εἷς γὰρ θεός,
εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων,
ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς
Literal translation
One for god,
one and mediator of god and men,
man Christ Jesus
Finished translation
For (there is) one God, and (there is) one mediator between God and mankind, (the) man Christ Jesus.
New Testament critical editions
Nestle Aland 28th Edition (NA28) based on the Editio Critica Maior (ECM), which employs the coherence based genealogical method (CBGM)
Tyndale House Greek New Testament (THGNT) prioritizes trusted physical manuscripts over the CBGM.
Old Testament critical editions
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and the partially completed Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) print the Leningrad Codex in the main text, but include alternative readings in the footnotes.
Hebrew Bible Critical Edition (HBCE) by Ronald Mendel is a project of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) to develop a critical edition.
Resources to see decisions about alternative readings
NET Bible (accessible at org)
New Testament Text and Commentary by Philip Comfort
A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger
Formal equivalence translation philosophy
Fee & Strauss: “If the Greek or Hebrew text uses an infinitive, the English translation will use an infinitive. When the Greek or Hebrew has a prepositional phrase, so will the English…The goal of this translational theory is formal correspondence as much as possible.”2
Ron Rhodes: “Formal equivalence translations can also be trusted not to mix too much commentary in with the text derived from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. To clarify, while all translation entails some interpretation, formal equivalence translations keep to a minimum in intermingling interpretive additives into the text. As one scholar put it, ‘An essentially literal translation operates on the premise that a translator is a steward of what someone else has written, not an editor and exegete who needs to explain or correct what someone else has written.’”3
Dynamic equivalence translation philosophy
Ron Rhodes: “Dynamic equivalence translations generally use shorter words, shorter sentences, and shorter paragraphs. They use easy