Hues of Bible Translations
As I browsed through the art gallery I was taken by the contrast of styles. From a more traditional painter, the Realist, there were beautiful scenes of landscape and images of buildings and people. Sometimes hidden within the picture were items of symbolism, put there by the artist to make you think, to provide more than a scene, to also provide a message beyond the obvious one. I moved on to an Expressionist painting; a copy of Van Gogh’s “The Scream” stood before me. The emphasis on emotions and subjective feelings overshadow reality in these paintings. As I continued through the gallery, there was examples of Baroque style, Surrealism, Pop Art, pictures more classic in style, etc.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right, and I find beauty in the artistic renderings of various styles, but in the end, I want a picture that brings meaning, that allows me to understand what the artist was communicating.
Maybe this can help explain the variety of Bible translations we have available today. Why do we need the King James (the Bible the apostle Paul used), the New American Standard, the English Standard Translation, the New International Version, in addition to paraphrases like The Message, etc.? (By the way, that “apostle Paul” parenthetical reference above was sarcasm. Not always obvious without context.)
The Hebrew language of the Old Testament is a very basic language. This language has only about 8,000 words, which must be used to communicate. Compare that to our English, a language that has about 100,000 words. Because of its small vocabulary, Hebrew words have a broader meaning when used. It is full of desert browns which can camouflage meaning, unless you consider context. And that’s the point. To understand the meaning you must understand the context. But it creates a dilemma for the person (or team) translating Hebrew into English. What English word best communicates what the Hebrew author had in mind?
Like painting a picture, what colors, what scene, what style, best communicates what the author wanted to say? The translators do their best, but they choose different words from the large arsenal available to them in English. The true “translator” at least attempts to use words that, from their studied perspective, say just what the original said. By contrast, the “paraphraser” just takes an English version and puts it in the paraphraser’s words, potentially moving the reader further away, rather than closer, to the author’s meaning.
As the New Testament, written in Greek, is translated into English, it provides a different challenge. Greek, like English, has many words to communicate with. 350,000 or more, to put a number to it. So, the trick is the opposite of translating Hebrew. We must take a language that is very specific and translate it to a language that is less specific. Again, the translators do their best, but they vary with the words they use.
Lois Tverberg, of Our Rabbi Jesus, who studies cultural settings of the Bible, gives an example of the Hebrew word for “fear” that is the same as “awe” or “reverence.” We are constantly told to “fear the Lord” and in context it doesn’t mean to run scared, but to reverence in awe the Lord. What word should the translators use? Or how our English word “love” is broken into several Greek words that are more specific: philia (deep friendship), eros (romantic), storge (familial), and agape (unconditional). The word “love” paints with broad strokes.
So, what translation is best? It’s a matter of opinion. My suggestion: use more than one and compare. Get a good study Bible that provides introductions to each book, and comments on historical context.
Questions: What art style do you like best? What Bible translation do you prefer? Should you try another?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right, and I find beauty in the artistic renderings of various styles, but in the end, I want a picture that brings meaning, that allows me to understand what the artist was communicating.
Maybe this can help explain the variety of Bible translations we have available today. Why do we need the King James (the Bible the apostle Paul used), the New American Standard, the English Standard Translation, the New International Version, in addition to paraphrases like The Message, etc.? (By the way, that “apostle Paul” parenthetical reference above was sarcasm. Not always obvious without context.)
The Hebrew language of the Old Testament is a very basic language. This language has only about 8,000 words, which must be used to communicate. Compare that to our English, a language that has about 100,000 words. Because of its small vocabulary, Hebrew words have a broader meaning when used. It is full of desert browns which can camouflage meaning, unless you consider context. And that’s the point. To understand the meaning you must understand the context. But it creates a dilemma for the person (or team) translating Hebrew into English. What English word best communicates what the Hebrew author had in mind?
Like painting a picture, what colors, what scene, what style, best communicates what the author wanted to say? The translators do their best, but they choose different words from the large arsenal available to them in English. The true “translator” at least attempts to use words that, from their studied perspective, say just what the original said. By contrast, the “paraphraser” just takes an English version and puts it in the paraphraser’s words, potentially moving the reader further away, rather than closer, to the author’s meaning.
As the New Testament, written in Greek, is translated into English, it provides a different challenge. Greek, like English, has many words to communicate with. 350,000 or more, to put a number to it. So, the trick is the opposite of translating Hebrew. We must take a language that is very specific and translate it to a language that is less specific. Again, the translators do their best, but they vary with the words they use.
Lois Tverberg, of Our Rabbi Jesus, who studies cultural settings of the Bible, gives an example of the Hebrew word for “fear” that is the same as “awe” or “reverence.” We are constantly told to “fear the Lord” and in context it doesn’t mean to run scared, but to reverence in awe the Lord. What word should the translators use? Or how our English word “love” is broken into several Greek words that are more specific: philia (deep friendship), eros (romantic), storge (familial), and agape (unconditional). The word “love” paints with broad strokes.
So, what translation is best? It’s a matter of opinion. My suggestion: use more than one and compare. Get a good study Bible that provides introductions to each book, and comments on historical context.
Questions: What art style do you like best? What Bible translation do you prefer? Should you try another?
Posted in Waking Up Eutychus