Introduction to Bible Translations

(aka versions of the Bible)

There have been many attempts to translate the manuscripts of the Bible into English. Many of those translations have served as at least partial testimonies to God’s Testimony that he established for humanity throughout the ages. We must admit that not every translation is created equal. There are many reasons why not and exploring those serves us well to understand the reason for a new and faithful translation called The Rooted Word [TRW].

Hearts of the Translators

First off, we can indicate the heart of those involved in the translation work of any particular translation determines more than anything the truthfulness of that translation. Yes, you read correctly. I am calling some translators liars. Their works are evident and available to be judged by competent men. I am going to do that here for your benefit. You will see which translations were made by liars and which by honest men.

And yes, I use men very purposefully here. If any women have been involved in the translation work of any particular translation they are included in that pronoun. It is the pronoun I have chosen to use as the inclusive pronoun according to conventions of the English language I learned.

As we compare translations to the Greek manuscripts we will discover which have either purposely concealed God’s Testimony or were too lazy to do the work of translation themselves, merely rewording the KJV, for example. The hearts will be laid bare.

Literal vs Figurative Language

Secondly, the heart of the translator can be seen by the tendency to use figurative language above literal meanings of words. Granted, sometimes it is inevitable to turn to the figurative meaning, but extremely rarely and only in the instances when the literal cannot be made sense of its context. A translator who leans upon figurative language in lieu of literal is interpreting, rather than translating.

When we talk of literal vs figurative language we are referring to the translation of individual words by their lexical meanings. Of course, some language is figurative in context, functioning as metaphors, similes and synechdoche. We are not referring to this level of language, but to the choice of translation of individual words.

Pronouns in the Bible

A convention of interpretation has slipped into translation work of the Bible that became a kind of convention in the 19th century in English Christian circles, in particular, in popular and professional Christian writings. I am speaking of the capitalization of a pronoun when it refers to any of the three members of the Trinity or to God in general. You ask why this is interpretation, rather than reverential translation. The answer is simple. Sometimes it is unclear who the pronoun is referring to, whether to God or to a male human being mentioned in the passage. If you determine to capitalize the pronouns that are unambiguously referring to God and then do not capitalize it when it is ambiguous, you are making an interpretation of that ambiguity to mean that it refers to a human being and not to God. It is not capitalized and the reader will read it as not referring to God. If you capitalize the ambiguous pronoun, then the reader reads it as definitely referring to God, though it is unclear in the passage. The only solution that preserves the ambiguity for the reader to interpret its application is to not capitalize any pronouns, except of course those that occur at the beginning of sentences. Therefore, in The Rooted Word [TRW] we have decided not to capitalize pronouns that refer to God.

Another problem that has surfaced with pronouns in biblical translation work is invisible to many native English speakers. This is the confusion between the grammatical gender of a noun and its sexual or biological gender. This is especially a problem with the term for wisdom, which is grammatically feminine in the Greek. As a consequence there has arisen false teachings that Jesus is equivalent to wisdom personified, and that wisdom was portrayed as a woman. Essentially, and critically so, they are superimposing their perverse cultural views of so-called gender, which is not the same as grammatical gender, upon the Bible. In particular, they would subvert God the Father and replace him with a mother god. They would subvert God the Son and replace him with an androgynous being with their abominable gender fluid inventions. Judgment is not sleeping! It is coming upon those people who rush with their perversions into the churches and soil the Testimony of God with their abominations.

In The Rooted Word [TRW], when an abstract noun is clearly being personified with distinctive feminine aspects, such as motherhood (her children), we render the pronouns her and she. When there is no indicator of distinctive feminine qualities we render personified abstract nouns he and him. When the abstract noun is not being personified we render the pronoun it and its.

Proper Nouns in the Bible

(aka geographic names and names of people)

When a proper noun commonly used in modern English is very similar to the Greek transliterated, we opt for the modern English spelling. If there is more than a superficial difference between the modern English and the Greek, we opt for the transliterated spelling. Therefore, there are some differences between names one may be used to and what you find in The Rooted Word [TRW]. We try as much as possible to restore the name as it appears in the Greek.

You may find rare, but important exceptions to these rules. The name of Jesus is unaltered. We do not cave into those bullying others to use a Hebraicized alternative to the English translation of the Greek name for Jesus. The Hebrew name of Jesus was not preserved by God in his testimony. So we do not use it either. However, since we speak English and this is an English translation of the Bible we will use the English name already established for us. You may ask why we do not do the same for other biblical proper nouns. The reason is that there is unanimous agreement of the translation of the Greek into English of Jesus. This cannot be said of most other proper nouns.

Apostates Do Not See Their Apostasy

in their reviews of their most treasured mockeries of the Testimony of God

The following is from Cambridge University Press & Assessment website

The red bolded phrases indicate problematic assumptions and qualities of the translation. Although the NIV has the least text in red, it is no less problematic as a translation. The Cambridge Press merely has not gloated over it, since it is a distinctly American English translation that has out paced all modern British efforts. That is not to gloat over it either, but to attempt to address why they did not gloat over it and reveal through that its real problems.

English Standard Version

The English Standard Version is a literal translation of the Bible, firmly rooted in the tradition of Tyndale and King James but without archaic language. Published at the beginning of the 21st century, it is extremely close to the Revised Standard Version and is well suited to public reading and memorisation.

King James Version

The King James Version is the world’s most widely known Bible translation, using early seventeenth-century English. Its powerful, majestic style has made it a literary classic, with many of its phrases and expressions embedded in our language. Earlier generations were ‘brought up’ with this translation and learnt many of its verses by heart.

New American Standard Bible

The New American Standard Bible is a literal translation from the original texts, well suited to study because of its accurate rendering of the source texts. It follows the style of the King James Version but uses modern English for words that have fallen out of use or changed their meanings. It uses capital letters for pronouns relating to divinity, eg ‘there He sat down with His disciples’.

New English Bible

The New English Bible was a translation undertaken by the major Protestant churches of the British Isles. Scholars translated from the best Hebrew and Greek texts, aiming to present the full meaning of the original in clear and natural modern English. The translation was published jointly by the University Presses of Cambridge and Oxford.

New International Version

The NIV watchword is ‘balance’. The most widely used of any modern Bible version, the New International Version marries meaning-for-meaning principles with word-for-word renderings. It is an all-round translation, suitable for a wide range of purposes, and has proven especially popular amongst evangelicals. Its straightforward, contemporary language is both clear and dignified in style.

New King James Version

The New King James Version was first published in 1982 and is a modernisation of the King James Version of 1611, using the same underlying Greek text for the New Testament. It preserves the KJV’s dignified style and its word and phrase order but replaces some words and expressions that may be no longer easily understood. The translators sought ‘to preserve the original intended purity of the King James Version in its communication of God’s Word to man.’

New Living Translation

The New Living Translation was translated from the ancient texts by 90 leading Bible scholars. It employs clear and natural English. It often makes implicit information explicit (e.g. ‘disreputable sinners and corrupt tax collectors’.) The NLT’s motto is ‘the Truth made clear’.

New Revised Standard Version

The New Revised Standard Version is a thorough revision of the original RSV by an ecumenical team of scholars. It is growing in popularity, particularly in churches, schools and academia. The translators made full use of contemporary biblical manuscripts, resulting in a clearer understanding of many obscure passages. It uses gender-inclusive language (making it clear where the original texts include both males and females).

The Revised English Bible

The Revised English Bible updates the New English Bible, retaining the latter’s elegant literary style, but removing its archaisms. The REB employs a modest amount of inclusive language and is good for public reading. Like the NEB before it, the REB is a British translation, sponsored by all the main Christian denominations.

Tyndale

William Tyndale’s seminal contribution to the development of the Bible in English is universally recognised. Translating directly from the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, he produced a text of enduring quality that underpinned Bible translations in English from the sixteenth century to the present day

Revised Version

The Revised Version was produced in the nineteenth century by British and American scholars, benefiting from the discovery of some early and important manuscripts which threw new light on many aspects of biblical scholarship. It was the first real revision of the KJV and the basis for the American Standard Version of 1901.

Major Translations of the Bible

I do not recommend any of these as a permanent and reliable translation of the Scriptures. Most of them are not translating the Scriptures with regards to the Old Testament. Most of them also do not adhere to the majority Byzantine texts for the New Testament and therefore should not be taken as translating the Scriptures. On top of that their translation methodology is actually interpretation, depending almost wholly on figurative meanings for words. This is why there is a great need for The Rooted Word today. We see the works of the apostate churches who refuse to adhere to Jesus’ Gospel and invent their own instead. They have done the same with the Scriptures, making it sound in form like the real thing, but in fact differing in such critical and manifold ways that they are not the Scriptures.

You may have seen me teaching from the NKJV in videos. That was done to prove that even the product of so-called translation of their so-called manuscripts still rebukes them of their apostasy. For the translators themselves were not aware of their apostasy nor the ways in which God caused their own hands to pen a mock version of the Testimony of God that would still rebuke them – like the dumb ass being given speech of a man to refrain the prophet’s madness. In this case, I might be akin to the dumb ass being given human speech.