Thanks to Damian for this Submission.
Oftentimes, reading our bible is like looking at a scene through fog. It takes a lot of effort to make out the overall picture, let alone the details. In order to get to the meaning, we have to first pass through the language, and through the cultural context. A good translation helps us see through that fog, by minimising the amount of decoding we have to do before we begin interpreting: It lets us pass through the barrier of language seamlessly.
An example: The other day, reading through 1st Corinthians in the TNIV, I came to a passage (5:12-13) which made absolutely no sense to me. It just jarred, and ruined the flow of thought:
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
I read it again once or twice, and began to understand the meaning. But it was simply a messy way of putting it, and in that form, I struggled with the passage. The next handy bible I had was the NRSV (an aging Catholic children’s version):
Continue reading “Cutting through the fog of language with the sword of conjunction”
Tags: New Living Translation, nlt 24, TNIV
I am a novice at bible translation, but even I know that a ‘literal translation’ is not exactly literal. I wonder if the ESV uses all the ‘O’s’ in the text? Or the ‘the’s’ as in ‘the God, the Christ’ when it is rarely translated in our English bibles.
Continue reading “For Piper is way, way, way, way off”
Tags: english bible translation, ESV, esv-onlyism, john piper, NIV, TNIV
The NIV and the TNIV is about to go the way of the dodo and the KJV-1611. As many will recall, the TNIV has born the brunt of the Evangelical attacks because of the gender inclusive language which it employed.
Fine. Cool. Whatever.
But, in the end the TNIV wasn’t all that bad, as we can actually find the use of gender inclusive language dating to the KJV. Yes, the King James Version used gender inclusive language. Bunch of liberals.
So, what do you think – must biblical translations ONLY use ’sons’ if both men and women are meant (or do you think that only males will be saved?)? Or, do you think that a moderate level of gender inclusiveness can be employed? Do you think we should shuck the entire concept and just use ‘it’ and ‘them’, etc…?
Tags: bible, NIV, TNIV
Yes, I am posting the entire thing – it is a press release.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Biblica Announces First Update in
Quarter Century of the World’s Most Popular Bible
CBT to Update New International Version (NIV) for 2011
September 1, 2009, Palos Heights, IL – -
The global board of Biblica today announced its intention to update the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the first time it has been revised since 1984. The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), the independent body of global biblical scholars solely responsible for the translation of the world’s most popular Bible, is slated to finish its revision late next year, with publication in 2011. The announcement was made at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., the site of the historic first meeting of the CBT in 1965.
Continue reading “Zondervan Announces 2011 Revision of the NIV”
Tags: Bible Translation, Biblica, Committee on Bible Translation, New International Version, news, TNIV, zondervan
It’s been a pretty busy week for me, and I feel like I am sitll missing some of my old RSS feeds. I lost a lot in my recent technologial troubles, but I still have some good quality blogs to read!
Continue reading “This Week's Favorite Posts”
Tags: bible, ecla, john piper, minnesota tornado, politics, racism, religion, TNIV
I know of a few Calvinists, Reformed they call themselves, who use and teach the English Standard Version like many use the KJV. This blogger tells us of an attack against the NIV, the TNIV and the NLT by Ligonier Ministries:
The whole point of this so-called talk was subtle and dishonest attacks against the NIV, TNIV and the NLT. It was suggested that these translations are just about money and they are a “war on the word of God”. In the end, this whole things leads to a pied-pipering to the English Standard Version. All I have to say is bye, bye Ligonier Ministries, RC Sproul, and Renewing Your Mind. My time is short and there’s better things to listen too that don’t waste my time and fill me with dishonest rhetoric.
Frankly, I like the NLT. It lacks the dry committee feel of the ESV, and of course, there are other problems with it (see here.) I like the style of it, and indeed, sometimes I like the NIV. (Of course, I generally like to study the originals). The ESV is purposely translated to appeal to the Reformed. Fine. But as the author above said, dishonest rhetoric is not needed at this time.
I am not saying give up your ESV’s. Keep them. Read them. Enjoy them. Just leave the onlyist arguments to the kind folks who defend the KJV.
Tags: ESV, God, Ligonier Ministries, NIV, NLT, RC Sproul, religion, Renewing Your Mind, TNIV
The KJVO supporters usually criticize the TNIV and NRSV on the grounds that they use ‘gender inclusive’ language – yet the KJV promoted that venue long before those versions were thought of. Granted, the KJVO does not go far enough in translating gender all that well, but it is interesting to note that they did allow for some less than literal translations. The goal of this article is to show that some of the criticisms leveled against the newer versions can be found to be equally leveled at the KJV.
Continue reading “"Gender Inclusive" – Is the KJV "Gender Inclusive"?”
Tags: bible, Bible Translation, gender, gender inclusive, God, king james only, king james version, kjvo, religion, TNIV
