How to Choose and Utilize
Translations[1]
Evaluating available translations. How does one choose among the available translations in English? The book
So Many Versions?,
by Sakae Kubo and Walter Specht, has an excellent discussion of this question.53
There are many competing translations available. What are some of the criteria
for choosing? We will suggest four factors that should be considered:
1. Accuracy—This criterion can be described in different ways. As discussed
above, a translation should aim to have the same effect on new readers as the
originals did on the first readers. Put another way, the goal should be
communicate all that the author intended. Of course, it is virtually impossible
to capture every feature. We are today historically, linguistically, and
culturally removed from the situation of the writers. This is one reason why
there will always be a need for further exegesis and new Bible translations.
There are several things a
translator must do or possess as a minimum in order to achieve accuracy. First,
he must have a high degree of exegetical, linguistic, and literary ability.
This will help him in knowing how languages in general are structured.54
Second, it is imperative that the translator go to the original languages.55
The practices of the translators in regard to this are usually stated in the
preface of each translation. Third, assessment of the needs of the audience
must be consciously undertaken, since they are the all-important hearers of the
message. Often a translator will have the goal of making a translation suitable
for personal study, or for public reading. A translation that is limited to one
particular readership or purpose will appear out of place when used for
another. J.B. Phillips wrote his first translation for British youth. It
received widespread acceptance because it was suited to his audience.56
On the other hand, the New English Bible, a British translation, often seems
too British for many Americans (aside from spelling differences) as when it
uses British monetary terms (two pence,
Lk. 12:6, etc.), or weeds for
“garments” (Gen. 38:14).57
2. Literary quality and
style—Attention to these is important for several reasons. First, a translation
that is not written smoothly will be tiring to read, and will eventually be
neglected. Freshness, vigor, and quality are all required. But a danger in
attempting to be too natural in translation is that of becoming slangy. If a
translation is to be used for any type of public reading, it should have
literary qualities that make it acceptable to a broad audience. In order to
achieve the goal of literary coherence and quality, the NIV,
for instance, was edited for style by literary experts after the translators
had done their work.58
3. Theological neutrality—It is
difficult to avoid presuppositions in any scholarly endeavor, even in biblical
studies and Bible translating.59 It is not difficult to see
such personal or philosophical factors in the history of interpretation. One
cannot help having a starting point, a set of assumptions that give direction
to study or translation. But, of course, the important thing in biblical
studies or Bible translation is to test all assumptions by the light of
Scripture, and avoid the situation described by one theologian: “Every exegesis
that is guided by dogmatic prejudices does not hear what the text says, but
only lets the latter say what it wants to hear.”60 Such non-neutrality
can enter in at various levels, as when the Jerusalem Bible (a Roman Catholic
translation) adopts a poorly attested Greek reading in Jn. 1:13 which allows
the verse to read (in support of the virgin birth): “Jesus who was born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh,” versus “those … who were born …”61
One way to minimize the interference
of presuppositions in translation work is to channel the process through a
committee.62 Of course, whole committees can be biased in certain
directions. Another problem with committees is the tendency toward variation in
the quality of work from book to book. Many modern translations have been
produced by committees whose composition has intentionally been broad-based. In
any case, it is good to attempt to learn the theological positions of
translators involved. Often this information is given in a preface, or can be
determined in other ways.63 The student of Scripture has the
responsibility, as with all other biblical material, of testing what is
presented to him to see if it matches Scripture as best he can understand it
from all the translations and helps he has available. This is merely the
principle of 1 Cor. 14:29 and 1 Th. 5:21, where the believer is required to
evaluate the teaching that comes from others to discern false from true, and
then “hold fast” ’ to what is valid. Information given in the preface or
material published ancillary to a translation will often state the goals or
purposes of a translating group.64 Such information may be of
help in evaluating literary or doctrinal positions, also, as when the NEB
states in its introduction to the New Testament:
We have conceived our task to be
that of understanding the original as precisely as we could (using all
available aids), and then saying again in our own native idiom what we believed
the author to be saying in his.… In doing our work, we have constantly striven
to follow our instructions and render the Greek, as we understand it, into the
English of the present day, that is, into the natural vocabulary, construction,
and rhythms of contemporary speech.65
4. Original language editions utilized—The variation in editions used as
the basis of translations, especially of the New Testament, has been mentioned
above. In general, major doctrines will not be affected. More recent
translations, such as the NIV, NASB,
and RSV, have used editions of the New Testament
supported by the general consensus of scholarship, editions that use
manuscripts older than the Textus Receptus type of edition utilizes. However,
the committees involved in making such translations have not followed those
editions slavishly.66
Utilizing translations. At times you may feel, especially if you do not have access to the
original languages, that you cannot be sure of anything in the biblical text,
since there are so many translations available. Here are some guidelines for
taking advantage of English translations of the Bible:
1. Compare renderings—It is often very helpful to study with more than one
translation. In the turgid portions of Paul’s epistles, for example,
translations such as those by Phillips or Way often clarify what is obscure.67
This comparative process can be even more effective if different types of
translations are used, since sometimes quite different perspectives can be
found and integrated into understanding of a passage.
2. Learn strengths and
weaknesses—After repeated use of a translation, the Bible student can often
notice where that translation shines or where it misses the mark. The NIV, for example, will break up long
sentences that the AV or NASB
leaves in correspondence with those in the original languages. A good example
of this is found in Eph. 1:3–14. Such a practice enhances readability
3. Read widely—One of the greatest
hindrances to progress in Bible study is the failure to read extensively and
take in new information. Employing various Bible translations can help overcome
that weakness. You may have a favorite study Bible, but you should keep other versions at hand for consultation.
4. Be open to new interpretations—As
serious Bible students we must always walk a tightrope between two extremes:
(1) not accepting new truth given by the illuminating ministry of the Spirit,
but stubbornly clinging to the familiar, and (2) seeing, on our own, what is
not there in the text. Openness is good if what we see is verifiable by other
Scripture. It is destructive if we see, because of excessive prejudice or a
hobby-horse mentality, what is not and never will be in the text. We all ought
to be willing to be surprised by what we find in a new translation, and be
ready to accept it as valid, if it accords with the rest of the Bible (see ch.
4, Interpreting the Bible).
5. Take advantage of study
helps—While the features of study editions of the Bible, such as marginal
references, a concordance, etc., are not part of the translation, they do in
most instances shed light on the translation. Some notes may be the product of
the translators themselves, who after wrestling with thorny problems suggest
alternative readings or explanations. The NIV
translators’ notes appear on each page of that translation.
53 Kubo and Specht, 336–44.
54 See Kubo and Specht, 18; Barr, 288–96.
55 It should be noted that The Living Bible was not
done originally as a translation from the original languages; see Kubo and
Specht, 340.
56 Kubo and Specht, 337–38;69.
57 Kubo and Specht, 207–9.
NIV New International Version
58 Kubo and Specht, 245. see also the section
“Introduction” in the Oxford NIV Scofield
Study Bible
59 Graham N. Stanton, “Presuppositions in New Testament
Criticism,” in New Testament
Interpretation, ed. I. Howard Marshall (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 60.
61 Stanton, 65. This has been changed in The New Jerusalem Bible. (New York:
Doubleday, 1985).
63 See, for example, the description of
Kenneth Taylor’s background in Kubo and Specht, 232; the names of the
translators of the NASB and the NIV are available from the Lockman Foundation
and the New York International Bible Society, respectively.
64 An example is About the New English Bible, compiled by Geoffrey Hunt (Cambridge:
Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, 1970).
65 C. H. Dodd, Introduction to the
New Testament, The New English Bible
(Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, 1970), vii.
NIV New
International Version
RSV Revised
Standard Version
66 Kubo and Specht, 200–2, 223, 269–70.
67 J. B. Phillips, in The New Testament in Modern English (New
York: Macmillan, 1973); Arthur S. Way, The
Letters of Paul; Hebrews and Psalms (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1981).
NIV New
International Version
AV Authorized
Version (=King James Version)
NIV New
International Version
