Translating from one language to another in some cases is virtually impossible, on a word for word basis. For example take the phrase "lilies of the field", try to use this phrase with some one who lives in the Amazon rain forest, they have never seen a Lilly and perhaps never seen a field. Or how about a culture that considers the liver the seat of feeling. (The Bible) you would come up to a good looking gal and say" hay babe you make my liver quiver".
There are a couple of basic truisms
1 A culture has all of the words that it needs.
2 lack or presence of a word is extremely indicative.
If I remember correctly the Inuit have approximately 20 words for snow. What you don�t say is often as important as what you do, e.g. too common place to be a concern.
For some cases you can do work around or go for equivalents if there are any.
Some factors in translations
1 language differences (lilies= orchids)
2 changes in languages over time
3 bias of the translators
4 lack of originality (not bucking the majority).
5 misunderstanding the context.
You can not isolate facts from their context and have them still be true.
We have to look at Bible passages in a number of ways.
Context, Historical
Culture
Original language
Is the theme repeated elsewhere? Is the specific concern repeated elsewhere? How do others refer to the passage elsewhere?
Does this leave a large potential area of conflict? Absolutely and not as much as you might think.
One fact that we have in essence with ancient manuscripts an unchangeable base to start from and biblical proscriptions against making changes (that jot and tittle thing) have succeeded.
One major area of conflict is the fact that a number of words with varying nuances have been translated in to one English word prime example is Sin.
One word used to translate many. Sin, 7 words with very different meaning.
Hamartia - is, literally "a missing of the mark," (and so not share in the prize)
Hasebeia - actively doing something you know is wrong.
Parakoi - Failing to hear when god speaks or ignoring what he has to say.
Anomia - means lawlessness, a contempt of Gods law.
Parabasis - Or the active breaking of a commandment. It means more than hamartia in that it implies intention.
Hittima - A sin of omission.
Agnoima - ignorance of what one ought to have known:
So we lose a great deal of vital information in the lack of English equivalents and hence meaning.
Now for a little demonstration this is a rather non-controversial passage.
Jeremiah 5:8
Septuagint [They became horses mad after females]
Vulgate Equi amatores et emissarii facti sunt [They have become passionate and wandering horses]
LB Wie die vollen mtifiigen Hengste [Like full, idle stallions]
RDV They are become as amorous horses and stallions
KJV They were as fed horses in the morning
RSV They were well-fed, lusty stallions
JBF C'dtaient des chevaux repus et bien membrds [They were well-fed and well-endowed horses]
JBS Son caballos lustrosos y enteros [They are shiny and robust horses]
JB They were well-fed, lusty stallions
JBG Feiste, wohlgebaute Hengste sind sie [Fleshy, well-built stallions they are]
NEB Like a well-fed and lusty stallion
NAB Lustful stallions they are
NIV They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
NASU They were well-fed lusty horses,
The Jersulem Bible had the same translation team for all three languages.
. Jer 5:8
They were hayah (haw-yaw); a primitive root [compare OT:1933]; to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):
9999 inserted word (x);
fed zuwn (zoon); a primitive root; perhaps properly, to be plump, i.e. (transitively) to nourish:
horse cuwc (soos); or cuc (soos); from an unused root meaning to skip (properly, for joy); a horse (as leaping); also a swallow (from its rapid flight):
in the morning: shakah (shaw-kaw'); a primitive root; to roam (through lust):
every one 'iysh (eesh); contracted for OT:582 [or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant]; a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):
neighed tsahal (tsaw-hal'); a prim root; to gleam, i.e. (figuratively) be cheerful; by transf. to sound clear (of various animal or human expressions):
after 'el (ale); (but only used in the shortened constructive form 'el (el)); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:
his neighbour's rea` (ray'-ah); or reya` (ray'-ah); from OT:7462; an associate (more or less close):
wife. 'ishshah (ish-shaw'); feminine of OT:376 or OT:582; irregular plural, nashiym (naw-sheem'); a woman (used in the same wide sense as OT:582):
Literally: They were plump (engorged) horses in the morning, (to roam through lust):every one neighed cheerfully after his neighbor�s woman.
The KJV is arguably the greatest piece of English literature ever. Let's take a look at one example: "A vertuous woman reioyceth her husband, and he shall fulfill the yeeres of his life in peace." Ecclesiasticus 26:2 What is that you say? That scripture isn't in your copy of the KJV? Why is that? It is because the original KJV of 1611 had the apocrypha(books not canonized). And as you can see, the language is a little different from your copy. Here is another example from the book of Psalms: "That men may knowe, that thou, whose name alone is IEHOVAH, art the most high ouer all the earth."Psalmes LXXXIII:18 What does this mean? It means that the King James Version Bible has been revised thru the ages to meet the demands of a changing language.
How Many Revisions?
First, there were printer errors:
**There was the Wicked Bible which omitted "not" from 7 of the 10 Commandments.
**The Vinegar Bible with its parable of the vinegar
**The Unrighteous Bible where the unrighteous inherit the kingdom
**The Ears to Ear Bible and an assortment of others
Intentional Changes:
1612
**Early editions used either "he" or "she" at Ruth 3:15
1613
1616
In fact, between 1611 and 1644 there were 182 editions
**1629 edition omitted the Apocrypha
**1638 edition by Goad, Ward, Boyse and Mead
**1659 William Kilburne found 20,000 errors in 6 different editions made in the 1650's
**1660 marginal references introduced
**1683 Dr.Anthony Scargood added 7,250 references
**1727 thousands of errors were amended by the King's Printer
**1762 italics extended by Therold and Paris and modernized the language
**1769 extensive revision by B.Blayney
**The 1795 edition(Murderers Bible) rendered Mark 7:27 as "Let the chidren first be killed"
(instead of filled).
**Blayney's edition became standard until....
1873 the Cambridge Paragraph Bible edited by Scrivener
While the 1611 edition had, "Then cometh Judas" at Matthew 26:36, today's KJV has "Then cometh Jesus". Quite a remarkable difference!
King James Version Differences and Revisions
Passage A.V. KJV (1611) ~~~~Current KJV (1850)
Genesis 19:21 - concerning this thing~~~~ concerning this thing also
Genesis 23:18 - gates~~~~ gate
Genesis 39:1 - hand ~~~~ hands
Genesis 39:16 - "her" lord~~~~"his" lord
Genesis 47:6 - any man~~~~ any men
Exodus 15:25 - he made a statute~~~~ he made for them a statute
Exodus 21:32 - thirty shekels~~~~ thirty shekels of silver
Exodus 23:13 - names~~~~ name
Exodus 35:29 - hands~~~~ hand
Leviticus 2:4 - it shall be an unleavened cake~~~~ it shall be unleavened cakes
Leviticus 10:14 - sacrifice~~~~ sacrifices
Leviticus 19:34 - shall be as one born~~~~ shall be unto you as one born
Leviticus 20:11 - shall be put to death~~~~ shall surely be put to death
Leviticus 25:23 - were strangers~~~~ are strangers
Leviticus 26:23 - be reformed by these things~~~~ be reformed by me by these things
Numbers 4:40 - houses~~~~ house
Numbers 7:55 - charger of an hundred and thirty shekels~~~~charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels
Deutnomy 5:29 - keep my commandments~~~~ keep all my commandments
Joshua 3:11 - covenant, even the Lord~~~~ covenant of the Lord
Joshua 7:14 - households~~~~household
Ruth 3:15 - and he went into the citie.~~~~ and she went into the city.
1 Samuel 18:27 - David arose, he and his men~~~~ David arose and went, he and his men
1 Samuel 28:7 - servant~~~~servants
2 Samuel 16:8 - to thy mischief~~~~ in thy mischief
2 Kings 11:10 - in the temple.~~~~ in the temple of the LORD.
2 Kings 23:21 - this book of the Covenant~~~~ the book of this covenant
1 Chron 7:5 - were men of might~~~~ were valiant men of might
1 Chron 11:15 - of David~~~~ to David
2 Chron 28:22 - this~~~~ his
Job 33:22 - His soul draweth near~~~~ Yea, his soul draweth near
Psalm 141:9 - snare~~~~ snares
Proverbs 7:21 - With much fair speech~~~~ With her much fair speech
Eccles 2:16 - shall be forgotten~~~~ shall all be forgotten
Sg of Solm 4:6 - mountains~~~~ mountain
Sg of Solm 5:12 - water~~~~ waters
Isaiah 34:11 - The cormorant and the bittern~~~~But the cormorant and the bittern
Isaiah 49:13 - heaven~~~~ heavens
Isaiah 49:13 - God~~~~ the LORD
Isaiah 57:8 - and made a covenant~~~~ and made thee a covenant
Jeremiah 4:6 - standards~~~~ standard
Jeremiah 31:14 - be satisfied with goodness~~~~ be satisfied with my goodness
Jeremiah 31:18 - thou art the Lord my God~~~~ for thou art the Lord my God
Jeremiah 51:12 - watchman~~~~ watchmen
Jeremiah 51:30 - their~~~~~ her
Ezekiel 6:8 - that he may~~~~ that ye may
Ezekiel 12:19 - violence of them~~~~ violence of all them
Ezekiel 24:5 - him~~~~ them
Ezekiel 24:7 - poured it upon the ground~~~~ poured it not upon the ground
Ezekiel 48:8 - they~~~~ ye
Daniel 3:15 - the midst of a fiery furnace~~~~ the midst of a burning fiery furnace
Daniel 12:13 - the lot~~~~ thy lot
Joel 3:13 - the wickedness~~~~ their wickedness
Amos 8:3 - Temples~~~~ temple
Zechariah 7:7 - of the plain~~~~ and the plain
Malachi 3:4 - offerings~~~~ offering
Matthew 12:23 - Is this the son of David?~~~~ Is not this the son of David?
Matthew 14:9 - othes~~~~ oath's
Matthew 16:16 - Thou art Christ~~~~Thou art the Christ
Mark 6:26 - othes~~~~ oath's
John 11:3 - sister~~~~ sisters
John 12:22 - told~~~~ tell
John 15:20 - the Lord~~~~ his Lord
Acts 5:34 - a doctor of law~~~~ a doctor of the law
Romans 14:10 - we shall all stand~~~~ for we shall all stand
1 Corinth 10:28 - The earth is the Lords~~~~ for the earth is the Lord's
1 Corinth 12:28 - helps in governments~~~~ helps, governments
1 Corinth 15:6 - And~~~~ After
Philippians 4:6 - request~~~~ requests
2 Thessa 2:14 - the Lord Jesus Christ~~~~ our Lord Jesus Christ
1 Timothy 1:4 - rather than edifying~~~~ rather than godly edifying
2 Timothy 4:8 - unto them also~~~~ unto all them also
Hebrews 3:10 - hearts~~~~ heart
Hebrews 12:1 - run with patience unto the race~~~~ run with patience the race
1 John 5:12 - he that hath not the Son, hath not life.~~~~ he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Revelation 13:6 - dwelt~~~~ dwell
2 Chron 33:19
[Cambridge KJV Editions] sin
[Oxford KJV Editions] sins
Jeremiah 34:16 - whom ye~~~~whom he
