Good Translation is an art form. We often call translators interpreters, especially if they are up front with a speaker delivering a message. A qualifying translator can go word for word, but they can miss some of the finer points. A really good interpreter goes beyond the black and white on any page. They bring in all the nuances of meanings and culture. They use emotion, tone of voice, body movement and facial expressions to accurately express the meanings and intentions of another.
The Bible is the most translated book on the planet. The Bible App I use on my phone has 52 versions in English alone. I have not used them all but I have and do use several of them regularly. Not because I am shopping for a meaning I like, but because there are many nuances lost between translations. At the same time there are also often fresh meanings to be found as well.
Because I lived overseas I have listened to a lot of translations over the years and done a lot of translating. I have also had many others translate for me. All that to express how much I appreciate how hard it is to translate ideas across languages and cultures.
Finding the most faithful meaning of Bible passages is important to express the heart of God well. It is also important to touch our hearts a fresh. Like having new eyes to see with we gain new life applications from familiar passages. I especially enjoy study or translation notes that explain why the traditional expressions were not chosen.
When I find something new in the Word I love to take some time to think and talk with Abba about it. The Holy Spirit lives in followers of Jesus and came to lead us into all truth. (John 14:16-17; 26)
So, I encourage you, if you have not already, to check out different versions and pay attention to what is lost or found in translation…and why. Let me know how it goes!
So glad to see you are using LinkedIn to promote your blog, Andrea! I just came across a translation issue that really surprised and blessed me. The instance affects all of the English Bibles, because it originates in the rendering into Greek from a key passage of Hebrew – at Deuteronomy 8:3. I think because in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4, the Greek authors are reporting at second hand from an event that they clearly were not eyewitnesses to, and may have learned about in Aramaic.
I don’t know Aramaic. But I will suggest that it may be very closely parallel to the Hebrew…
Jesus tells Satan, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew is more elaborate than Luke who states ” It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”)
The Greek for the phrase (that I think very interesting in light of your admonitionto seek a variety of resources) is ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι Θεοῦ. “Upon” is hard to get into an English speaker’s mind as readily as “by,” but closely follows the Hebrew preposition עַל, so when we say, “What are you living on?” our immediate thought is of a very meager budget, just scraping by… the hunger of our Lord after 40 days is hardly comparable! But on to my main point here. Panti rhemati (παντὶ ῥήματι) is a form of the Greek word – famous among us Pentecostals – because it is a “now word,” emphatically referring to the flow of speech in experienced time like when Gabriel tells Mary in her astonishment at the annunciation, “no word shall be ineffective from God.”
Here in the wilderness temptation (as reported, I am strongly reminding you) the Lord is rebuking Satan with a quote that the Disciples probably knew – at least from His own tutelage if not from their lifelong synagogue attendance. The text of Moses at Deuteronomy is pointedly speaking for God to mortals about their unbelief –
– simply to remind them that He wants to gain and hold their attention.
The fact is that saying, in the Hebrew, “… in order that you know that not on bread only but on all … that proceeds from the mouth of God shall man live,” Moses directed his unruly followers to stop being carnal and worship the Lord with their faculty of hearing, and hearing with constant attentiveness. Kal Motzah = “whatsoever may come out from,” (e.g., Numbers 30:12;) “all proceedings,” even the sallyings forth from the 42 Wilderness Encampments, Numbers 33:2.
The word for “word” is not there! What can I infer from this? I imagine that the Disciples were, if not Torah scholars then at least, Torah hearers by the time our Lord reached the end phase of His earthly ministry; what we know from John 14-17 and elsewhere is that He would send the Spirit.
Out of the mouth of God – our personal Savior and the Creator the Father of Eternity, the only wise God – comes His Breath, the Spirit Who comforts and guides us with His NEARNESS (Psalm 73:28 & Isaiah 58:2.) The outpourings of the mouth of God are not words only, but all of the mysterious and exciting works of the Spirit!
Thanks Dave! Agreed. Knowing also that the Holy Spirit is outside of time, helps us to understand the part of HS mandated to reveal truth, to the writers and to us. One of the translations I enjoy is Brian Simmon’s Passion Translation, because of his knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic. A friend told me about the Ancient Roots translations that looks interesting too.
I bless you and Chris and miss you!
Andrea