Wednesday Bible Study

The Bible in Translation:

• Jerome (A.D. 340-420) – Translates the Old Testament from the ancient Hebrew rather than the Septuagint (LXX). His translations is known as the Latin Vulgate and became the standard for centuries.

• Erasmus – Translates the NT from the Greek manuscripts rather than Latin in 1515. Refines it several times. This becomes the base for many Bible translations in the vernacular.

• Martin Luther – Translates Bible into German from the Greek and Hebrew.

• John Wycliffe (A.D. 1320-1384) – Translates the Latin Vulgate into English in 1380. This is the first full Bible in the English language.

• William Tyndale (A.D. 1492-1536) – Desired to make an English Bible available to every English speaker. He knew Greek, Hebrew, Latin, German, Italian, French, and Dutch. Translates and prints the New Testament in 1526. Further translates the Pentateuch in 1530. The Tyndale Bible becomes the basis for all successive English translations until the mid to late 20th Century.

Translation Theories:

• Formal Equivalence – essentially literal, word-for-word translation from the original language. Wants the words to be literal not just the overall meaning. In a strict form it even reproduces the syntax and word order.

  • Ex. The New American Standard Bible, The English Standard Version, the King James Version, The New King James Version, Amplified Bible, Revised Standard Version.

• Optimal Equivalence – a combination of formal and dynamic. Seeks to translate the original word-for-word but when doing so would cause a confusion it seeks to translate in an idiomatic manner.

  • Ex. The Holman Christian Standard Version, The Christian Standard Version

• Dynamic Equivalence – seeks to translate thought-for-thought. Looks for the overall meaning and how to best translate meaning equivalently into the reader’s language.

  • Ex. The New International Version, The New Living Translation, The New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, Good News Translation/Bible.

• Paraphrase – Seeks to communicate the thoughts and words of the text in common and devotional manner. Much like preachers and homilies.

  • Ex. The Message Bible, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version.