Christian Publishing House Blog
Apologetic Defense of the faith, the Bible, and Christianity
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 11 Send[1] out your bread on the waters, for in many days you will find it. 2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth. (Heb. shalach) does not mean to throw out or scatter but to “send,” to... Continue Reading →
Dynamic equivalent (interpretive) translations are very much guilty of over translating the words of the original text, which might be better expressed as going beyond the words of the authors.
The reader needs and deserves to know what the passage actually says, even if it is difficult to understand. A contextual interpretation that ignores or deviates from the Original Language does not provide that, and since this kind of interpretation is a basic element of Dynamic Equivalent / Functional Equivalent translation, there is little or no “equivalency” to the OL in these passages at all. So on this score, the distinction between DE/FE translations and literal translations truly is a false dichotomy. The real distinction is between translations whose philosophies permit this kind of contextual interpretation in place of literal translation and translations that formally correspond to the OL as much as possible.
Darrell Conner from Facebook asks, returning to Hebrews 5:14, I have another question for you concerning perfection in [the book of] Hebrews, which I feel must be understood to properly translate Chapter 5, which as I said...no translation has done yet. So here is another question ...: the UASV translates Hebrews 12:23: "to the general... Continue Reading →
Acts 20:28: The NRSV, RSV, LEB, and the UASV read that the church was purchased with “the blood of his [God’s] own Son.” On the other hand, the other ESV, NASB, CSB, and the ASV read that the church was purchased with “God’s . . . own blood.”
A Worthy Translation is Faithful What exactly do we mean by faithful, and faithful to what or whom? By faithful, we mean unwavering to the original, to the author himself. The translation committees must choose to be faithful to the original text. Obviously, theological bias should not affect its rendering. We have the following translation... Continue Reading →
Our primary purpose is to give the Bible readers what God said by way of his human authors, not what a translator thinks God meant in its place.—Truth Matters! Our primary goal is to be accurate and faithful to the original text. The meaning of a word is the responsibility of the interpreter (i.e., reader), not the translator.—Translating Truth!
Our primary purpose is to give the Bible readers what God said by way of his human authors, not what a translator thinks God meant in its place.—Truth Matters! Our primary goal is to be accurate and faithful to the original text. The meaning of a word is the responsibility of the interpreter (i.e., reader), not the translator.—Translating Truth!
Accurately convey the original words that was inspired by God. (2 Tim. 3:16) give the Bible readers what God said by way of his human authors, not what a translator thinks God meant in its place. Continue Reading →
I have been the senior translator for the NASB (and Scholar in Residence) at the Lockman Foundation for about two decades, and Edward Andrews and I are good friends who share a passion for literal Bible translation.