Let's Talk... Translations

In ministry, I think I've seen more disagreements and defensive postures over which "Bible translation" is the best.  Here's the spoiler - "there ain't one!"  Truth is, it's completely objective, it's completely based on opinion.  "Pastor, I can't believe you are willing to let something as important as the Bible be determined by me!"  To which, I'd say, "Absolutely!"

It all comes down to what we call the Bible translation continuum.  To start with, it's important to know every translation we read is just that, a translation. It is not original Hebrew or Greek, and it had to be translated to English for us to read and understand.

Listen closely to those two words... read and understand.  When I choose a translation, I pick one that is easy to read (easy for me to read, not someone else).  If you can't read it, it doesn't matter what the words actually say.  The other part is understanding it.  If the words are readable, but not understandable, the meaning is lost in translation.

I'm going to introduce you to a word you probably haven't heard before (sit down, this one isn't easy) - mondegreens.  Believe it or not, it's a common phenomenon where words (lyrics) in a song are misunderstood.  There's a song our praise team leads us in called, "The Way" (recorded by Housefires from the album We Say Yes).  The chorus says, "I believe You are the Way, the Truth, the Life."  Beautiful lyrics but instead of "the Way" our nuckle-head teens heard, "Goooweeehhh" and have since been singing it that way FOR YEARS - mondegreens!  I've heard the same said of the song, "Word of God Speak" where someone thought it said, "Word of God's beak."  Nope, pretty sure God doesn't have a beak - mondegreens.

The word for understanding the Bible is hermeneutics (from the Greek word "hermenueo" meaning to explain or interpret).  You must be able to read it and you must be able to understand it.  We're not talking about a seminary level understanding, but the basic ability to understand what is said when written in English.  If we can't grasp it on a basic linguistic level, then we'll never be able to dig deeper to the rich theological substance beneath.

I will post more on this throughout the week, but want you to completely understand the unbiased truth about our modern day translations of Scripture. First, take a look at the chart posted below. Translation is approached either word for word (WFW) or thought for thought (TFT).  

Understand, the closer WFW the translation is, the more difficult it will be to read, unless you can read and understand the original language (unique point - Hebraic abjad, the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet uses only consonants, first letter is Alef, then Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Heh, Vav, Zayin, Khet, Tet, Yud, Kaf, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Peh, Tzadik, Qof, Resh, Shin, and Tav); sentences are written right to left; and with different verb systems and syntax compared to English).  For instance, check out Genesis 1:1 in our English translation compared to interlinear Hebrew:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(NLT)

the earth and the heavens God created in the beginning
(Hebrew interlinear)

I use original language for word studies, but do not enjoy reading either Hebrew or Greek.  Inherently, TFT translations are easier and more enjoyable to read because they read more like a story.  Keep an open mind and don't look at the continuum as right vs wrong, it is simply a difference in method of translation.