Louis Markos makes an important point against the use of gender-neutral language in Bible translations: Over the last several decades, this postmodern deconstruction of masculinity and femininity has, I believe, been fostered by the widespread acceptance of gender-neutral language. Many recent Bible translations (NRSV, NLT, CEV, NIV 2011) have adopted such language, despite the fact that …
Category Archives: Translation Philosophy
What Flag Do Your Words Wave?
The way that we view the world is reflected in the words that we use to talk about it. At Ray Van Neste’s recommendation I’m beginning to read The Language of Canaan and the Grammar of Feminism by Vernard Eller, a short little book of 56 pages. He quotes Karl Barth on the important point …
Robert Gundry on N. T. Wright’s Translation of the New Testament
Calling it “Tom’s Targum,” Bob Gundry makes some important points about translation theory and much else in an entertaining and spirited review of N. T. Wright’s translation of the New Testament. Some highlights: Time was when everybody understood a translation to be a more or less word-for-word transfer of meaning from one language to another—”or …
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Camus’s Translator on Translation
I have posted before on Dostoevsky’s translator, and I was pleased to read the “Translator’s Note” to Albert Camus’s The Stranger. Matthew Ward is the translator, and it seems to me that his comments weigh against “dynamic equivalence” in favor of a more literal rendering. Ward is actually critiquing the earlier more dynamic translation of …
What Makes a Translation Accurate?
What makes a translation accurate? Its ability to preserve the way that later biblical authors evoke earlier Scripture. The Bible was written by at least 40 authors from Moses in the 1400s BC to John around AD 90. Everyone who followed Moses learned from his work, and the later authors made heavy use of what …
What difference does it make if we capitalize son in Psalm 2?
The promises to David from 2 Samuel 7:4–17 are clearly in view in Psalm 2, especially in verses 5–12. In 1 Kings 2:1–4 and several other passages these promises are specifically applied to Solomon. These promises are also significant in the accounts of kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah. There is a sense, then, in …
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Prince Charles, the Book of Common Prayer, and Dynamic Equivalence Translation Philosophy
I think what Prince Charles says about the Book of Common Prayer is relevant to translation philosophy: Prince Charles, heir apparent to the British throne, is widely disliked by conservatives because of some of his politically incorrect statements. But his introduction to a new book celebrating the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common …
NIV 2011 Removes Selah from the Biblical Text
Rod Decker has drawn attention to the fact that the NIV 2011 puts the term Selah in the footnotes rather than in the text of the Psalms, and he suggests that the word should never be verbalized by those who read Scripture aloud. I like Rod Decker, but I think his post may be self-contradictory …
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Union University KJV Festival
At Denny Burk’s recommendation I listened to these addresses in the car last week. Enjoyed them so much I’m commending them to you. Here’s what Denny said about them that got me to listen to them: Union University recently hosted the “KJV400 Festival,” a conference celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King …
“Jabberwocky” Proves the ESV Isn’t Too Difficult
What does Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky” have to do with the ESV not being too difficult a translation for people to understand? Much in every way! Before I explain, let me invite you to enjoy Carroll’s foray into sniglets (words that don’t appear in the dictionary but should) and logatomes (made-up words that obey phonotactic …
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Grudem’s Essay, “Are Only Some Words of Scripture Breathed Out By God?”
Crossway has generously granted me permission to post a free copy of an important essay by Wayne Grudem: “Are Only Some Words of Scripture Breathed Out by God? Why Plenary Inspiration Favors ‘Essentially Literal’ Bible Translation” This essay was published in Translating Truth: The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translation (Wheaton: Crossway, 2005) 19–56. Grudem’s …
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The Word of God Is Living and Active (unless your translation philosophy emasculates it)
In Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture, Peter Leithart writes (3–6), “It is easy for Christians to blame secularists for ‘letting the Bible go,’ but the church is at least as culpable. As [Clive] James points out, translation is a key symptom of our willingness to emasculate our own Scriptures. [here Leithart presents two …