In pretty much every seminar I do, someone will ask, “What is the best version of the Bible to use?” Over the years I have developed a detailed answer to that question. I will work thorough it here; it may take more than one post. The focus here will be on English Bibles. However, the descriptions fit all Bibles in whatever language.
First there are at least three types of Bibles available:
Versions
At a top-level, versions are created with a team, a committee, of scholars who are working on translating the original texts into the language. The committee works together to come up with the best translation based on at least two variables the choice of original texts, and the translation philosophy.
The first variable is the base texts on which the committee will base their work. The decision is how much, if any, of the archaeological data they will consider and how they will use that data with the main resources of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Most modern translations will use the archaeological data applying the principles of text criticism to get as close as possible to the original texts as possible. This is a well-established and scholarly discipline that has greatly benefited all believers. The value to us is beyond the scope of this post. Suffice it to say that we have an embarrassingly accurate base text for both the Old and New Testaments. That said there are versions that have chosen to not use the archaeological data or were developed when that data was not available. In all cases the front matter, usually the introduction to the version will indicate what texts were used by the committee.
There is more about versions. We will pick that up tomorrow.
First there are at least three types of Bibles available:
- Versions
- Translations
- Paraphrases
Versions
At a top-level, versions are created with a team, a committee, of scholars who are working on translating the original texts into the language. The committee works together to come up with the best translation based on at least two variables the choice of original texts, and the translation philosophy.
The first variable is the base texts on which the committee will base their work. The decision is how much, if any, of the archaeological data they will consider and how they will use that data with the main resources of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Most modern translations will use the archaeological data applying the principles of text criticism to get as close as possible to the original texts as possible. This is a well-established and scholarly discipline that has greatly benefited all believers. The value to us is beyond the scope of this post. Suffice it to say that we have an embarrassingly accurate base text for both the Old and New Testaments. That said there are versions that have chosen to not use the archaeological data or were developed when that data was not available. In all cases the front matter, usually the introduction to the version will indicate what texts were used by the committee.
There is more about versions. We will pick that up tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment